Perry Central hears literacy‑cadre coaches report gains in early reading

School and state literacy partners briefed the board on a two‑year literacy‑cadre partnership that the presenters said is showing measurable gains in foundational reading skills.

Connie McDaniel, training support specialist and liaison with the Indiana Literacy Cadre (sponsored by the Indiana Department of Education and facilitated through the University of Indianapolis), outlined the Cadre’s coach‑to‑coach model, monthly local visits and statewide coaching network. She said the program helped partially fund Perry Central’s instructional‑coach position for two years and supplied phonemic‑awareness materials for grades where gaps were identified.

Whitney Towne, the district’s literacy cadre coach, described specific assessment results and intervention work. She reported kindergarten phoneme‑segmentation results at about 71% — a roughly 21‑point increase from the prior year — and first‑grade nonsense‑word decoding at about 82% after focused coaching cycles. Towne said an at‑risk first‑grade coaching cycle of 18 students produced significant gains and that third‑grade oral‑reading‑fluency was projected near 60% as district testing concluded.

“Once we hit 80% we moved to the next skill,” Towne said, summarizing the cadence of interventions and benchmarks. Presenters emphasized data‑driven coaching, pairing classroom instruction with intervention and expanding professional development to instructional assistants.

The board thanked the presenters and encouraged continued partnership; presenters said the state dashboard and ongoing coaching cycles will guide next‑year priorities.